Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.

Information on this website is compiled by Punto24 (Platform for Independent Journalism) from open sources.

Journalists in State of Emergency — 1

At least 20 journalists are currently in police custody in Turkey as part of the ongoing investigation into the failed coup of July 15, according to information from various media reports, although a complete list of the detained has not been provided by the authorities.

According to the state-run Anatolia News Agency, five owners of local newspapers were detained in an operation on July 23. Those detained were Aytekin Gezici, Yüksel Evsen, Taner Talaş, Hakan Bülent Yardımcı and Rıfat Söylemez.

On July 22, Haberdar Editor İsa Siyi was detained in an operation targeting the online Haberdar newspaper, according to a tweet by Haberdar Editor-in-Chief Said Sefa. The Evrensel daily reported that on July 24, three other Haberdar journalists, Ahmet Memiş, Erkan Büyük and Emra Koçali were detained. Other news reports said a detention warrant had been issued for Haberdar’s Ankara Bureau Chief Arzu Yıldız.

Anatolia reported that 14 journalists were taken into custody on July 25 in an operation in Antalya province. The agency didn’t list the names of the detained, but reported that former Zaman Antalya Regional Bureau Chief Tuncer Çetinkaya and Olgun Matur, the owner of a local news site, were among the detained. The report also named Sıtkı Soydan, a municipal council member, among the detained, despite stating that those detained were all journalists. If all of the other 11 individuals detained in the same operation are indeed journalists, this would bring the number of journalists in custody to 31.

On July 26, Anatolia reported that detention warrants had been issued for 42 journalists. The report said five of them — Zaman’s former finance editor İbrahim Balta, former Bugün Daily journalist Cihan Acar, Yeni Hayat reporter Bayram Kaya and Samanyolu Haber reporter Yakup Sağlam – had been detained. Two others on the list, Yarına Bakış columnist Nazlı Ilıcak and Zaman’s former court reporter and columnist Büşra Erdal, were detained on Tuesday. According to this, seven of the 42 journalists for whom detention warrants had been issued are currently in custody.

Authorities have said the journalists were arrested as part of an operation into the media arm of the FETÖ/PDY organization. İstanbul Deputy Prosecutor İsmail Uçar is in charge of the investigation.

Several other journalists, including Sibel Hürtaş, Orhan Kemal Cengiz and Volkan Koç, were detained and later released after the July 15 coup attempt.

A number of Kurdish journalists have been detained since the declaration of state of emergency in Turkey, on charges that fall outside the scope of the coup investigation.

On July 23, Jin News Agency (JİNHA) editor Zehra Doğan was arrested by a Nusaybin Court. JİNHA, which is an all-female media outlet, reported that Doğan had been taken into custody while sitting at a local café, along with Mazlum Kavak, an advisor to Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) deputy Ali Atalan. Doğan was arrested and sent to prison on charges of “spreading propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization.” Kavak, who was detained over his social media posts under suspicion of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “spreading propaganda on behalf of a terrorist” was released.

Zeynel Abidin Bulut, an editor of the Kurdish-language Azadiya Welat Newspaper, was detained at a police roadblock on July 23 in Diyarbakır’s Dağkapı district. Bulut, who was referred to a prosecutor, was arrested and sent to Diyarbakır Prison, on the grounds that a prison sentence given to him by a court had been upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals, İMÇ reported.

On July 26, Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporters Selami Aslan and Mehmet Sıddık Damar, and JINHA reporters Esra Aydın and Ceylan Eraslan were detained while covering a story in Mardin’s Nusaybin district. All four reporters were released after a police interrogation.

This list has been compiled by P24 editors from open news sources and will be updated regularly. Journalists who want to report developments about themselves or their colleagues can contact us at punto24info@gmail.com